July 22, 2010 - Ketchikan

Today is our last port stop of the trip. The weather, once again, did not fail us, with partly cloudy skies and temps in the upper 50's.

The ship docked in Ketchikan a half hour earlier than scheduled, at 9:30am. Alex was a little slow moving this morning, but we managed to get off the ship with about 90 minutes to goof off before heading to Anan Creek.

We walked around town for a while, attempting to find a geocache near the lumberjack show, but came up empty-handed as our GPS was bouncing off the mountains. We headed over to shop, again disgusted by the enormous amount of jewelry stores and gangs of ridiculous cruisers running from one to the next for their "free" charm or flake of a gem. To each their own, I suppose.

Finally we stumbled across what we had been looking for... a gallery showcasing the work of local artists. In 2002 we bought a small totem carved by an artist in Ketchikan, and we hoped to bring something similar home this trip as well. This particular gallery displayed work by several stone carvers. We of course fell in love with a piece well out of our price range, but we also found a small bear carved from heart granite that suited us just fine. After having it bundled carefully in many layers of bubble wrap for our journey home in a few days, we went in search of lunch. (Alex did obtain the particulars about the piece we loved. Hopefully it will still be available at the end of the 2010 cruising season, so we can talk them down in price and have it sent to us!)

On the docks we found a vendor serving up fish & chips. we had our choice of halibut or rockfish. Having enjoyed halibut on Tuesday, I opted for that and Alex concurred. The fish was really good, but not quite as good as a couple days ago. This stuff was simply battered & deep-fried, while previously it was a lighter tempura batter seasoned with dill, and less heavy on the stomach. The portions today were large and we ditched most of the chips.

After lunch our path crossed with my mom's, and we stopped to chat for a bit before heading off to be picked up for our tour. At 11:45am we strolled up to the visitor's center, and Tom joined us shortly. The three of us were to be picked up at noon, but noon came & went. After attempting several times to call the flight company, they finally picked up and said their driver was just a couple minutes away. Before we knew it we were loaded into their SUV and on our way to their pier.

The pilot we hired to fly us out to literally the middle of no where is Dave of Family Air. We would defintely recommend him to others. The floatplane was a 4 seat cessna built in 1978. We made an unexpected landing during the flight to Anan Creek, because a strap from a backpack was banging on the side of the plane from the cargo area. That taken care of, we were airborne again and on our way. The flight was roughly 30 minutes, and the view breathtaking.

We landed in a small bay, and Dave manuevered over to the shoreline. We had to climb over rocks to get to the trailhead, but we managed and everyone stayed dry. We were greeted by a National Forest Service ranger, Holly. She gave us strict instructions about how to behave during the half-mile hike to the observatory deck, as encountering bears is quite common. There have been no harmful incidents between the bears & humans at Anan. But unlike most people who visit, we were without an armed guide, so needless to say we listened to Holly intently.

Fully debriefed, we crossed our fingers, took a deep breath, and hit the trail. It is primarily a narrow boardwalk with lots of stairs, a few bridges, and some dirt sections. We stomped, talked loudly, and sang as instructed, getting louder and pausing when turning corners.

About 1/3 of the way in, we saw another group of hikers across the creek heading out of Anan. Their guide yelled for us to stop immediately. They had come across a brown bear sitting next to the trail eating berries, and if we had continued we would have cornered him...not a good thing. So we waited patiently for about 5-10 minutes before being given the all clear, and we proceeded with caution. As we passed the other group at a bridge over the creek, the guide (sporting a shotgun, which I pondered stealing from her) told us the bear had now moved "a few feet" off the trail behind a fallen tree and that it should be fine for us to pass. Holding our breath, we continued on stomping & clapping all the while, and saw no sign of the bear although we did see the mentioned fallen tree next to the trail.

Speaking of signs of bears... they were everywhere along the trail. Scat, as they call it, was EVERYWHERE. And paths leading off into the woods criss-crossed our trail at regular intervals, many full of what looked to be fresh bear tracks in the mud. More than once I wondered if I had lost my mind, dragging myself, Alex and Tom into this adventure!

After what seemed like an excruciating amount of time, we could hear the waterfall which indicated we were close to the observation deck. Rounding a corner we finally saw it, and while I don't know about the boys, it took all that I had not to make a run for it (a big no-no in bear country!). Thankfully I was sandwiched between Tom & Alex, otherwise I might have bolted.

Once on the deck, the intense fear that had been coursing through my veins for the last 20-30 minutes completely disappeared...just literally vanished. It never crossed my mind that I was now even closer to the bears and likely surrounded by dozens of them from every direction. Nor did I realize just how close I would get to them during the couple hours we spent on the deck. I was here. I had done it. #1 on my bucket list was now officially crossed off!

We didn't see any bear activity at first. So we signed up for the next 30 minute session in the photo blind (a camoflaged lower portion of the deck that puts you at eye-level with the creek and literally feet away from the favored feeding spot). Shortly after entering the photo blind, everything started to happen. We noticed a black bear tucked away under a few fallen rocks just across the creek from us. Then we turned and saw a brown bear rambling up the creek.

FYI... brown bear = grizzly. Alaskans call the grizzly "brown bear", and they are also in the same family as the Kodiak. These guys are huge bad-asses.

I snapped photos like crazy (thank you, burst-mode!) and got a few really good shots. Before long, a smaller brown bear also came up the creek. Based on his size, it looked like this might have been his first season since being weaned from his mom. His fishing skills weren't as honed as the big guy preceeding him.

The fish... when we first saw the creek, I asked "where are all the salmon?". Then I looked closer. The creek was actually bursting with salmon. What looked to be a solid creek bed at first glance, was really one large mass of pink salmon filling it from bank to bank as far as the eye could see.

In total, we saw 4 brown bears, and at least a dozen black bears during the couple hours we spent at the deck. The black bears got really close, literally just a few feet away, and occasionally they would crawl under the deck to eat their catch while we tried to watch them between the spaces in the boards. Tom witnessed two black bears having a spat over a favored fishing spot. Bald eagles were present in abundance, eating the cast-offs the bears had left behind. The experience was nothing short of spectacular. Prior to the trip I had ramped this experience up in my mind to astronomical levels, and I can honestly say I was not disappointed with the reality of it one bit.

Before we knew it, the time had arrived to head back down the trail to meet the floatplane for our ride back to Ketchikan. Tom noted that a small group being led by an armed guide was about to leave, so we paused for a minute or so in hopes that we could accompany them. The guide had no issue with us tagging along, so we breathed a sigh of relief and headed out.

Not 10 yards from the deck, the group suddenly halted and a gigantic brown bear ambled across the trail. Everything the ranger had told us at the beginning of this adventure was lost to Tom and I. Alex told me to get behind him so I took a few steps back towards him with the intent of continuing at warp speed back to the deck. Tom was on my heels looking like he had no qualms over plowing me down if need be, his elbows at the ready. The ranger stationed at the deck happened to notice and yelled "STOP". Thankfully we froze in our tracks as running from bears is probably the worst thing you can do. Meanwhile, Alex is standing there seemingly calm as can be with the video camera running. He wasn't lucky enough to get footage of Tom & I wussing out, but DID get the bear as it crossed the trail. I'll try to share that video shortly in another post.

The brown bear who had just crossed our path was "Georgie". The guide we had been following out had sprayed her 4 days ago because she had gotten too curious & close. I keep thanking my lucky stars that we'd opted to head out with the guided group. I'd like to think that when presented with a dangerous situation about which I had received clear & concise instructions, I would have behaved appropriately. But my flight instinct was too strong and immediately took over (along with Tom's, apparently). If it had just been us running... well, we won't think about that.

The rest of the hike out was uneventful. We arrived back at the trailhead just as our transportation was floating up. We waited for the guided group to board their small boat back to Wrangell, before Dave moved the plane into position for us to climb aboard.

Anan creek is an experience I will never forget. It went well beyond what I had anticipated, and I am so grateful that Alex and Tom agreed to go with me. Even though I have been wanting to do this for years, I am pretty certain I would not have been brave enough to do it on my own.

Back on board the ship, we had just a few minutes to get cleaned up and head down to dinner. We switched our seating around a bit, so we could dine with family members we'd yet to sit with. After dinner a bunch of us headed back up to our suite, and the kids watched Karate Kid II while I shot a bunch of funny videos of them. We headed to the grand dessert buffet where I noshed on a few chocolate covered strawberries and others raved about a peanut butter cake. After dessert, we headed up to our usual spot in the Crow's Nest bar, only to discover we were about 5 minutes late for trivia. No URANUS! or BEAVER! tonight. After a cocktail or four, we headed to bed for some much deserved sleep.

Moe